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My Favorite Spiritual Place in the Whole Wide World: Sagrada Familia
June 22, 2024 Ever since I first saw the Sagrada Familia in 1992 when I was in a college Study Abroad program, I fell in love with this church. After Taize and Iona, this was the next place I absolutely had to put on the itinerary. I’ve been back a few times since that first…
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A Monastery on the Cliffs
June 21, 2024 Before leaving for Spain, there was just one more place I had to visit in Rome. The Pantheon. Here’s another little known secret. While most people buy timed tickets in advance and then stand in the main line for awhile during their time slot, on each side of the pantheon there are…
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Rome: Taking Care of Unfinished Business
June 20, 2024 My family and I had the good fortune of going to Rome a little less than two years ago. We meandered around the Colosseum, gawked at the Sistine Chapel, and walked ancient roads on Palatine Hill and the Forum. But it was the end of a two week trip and scorching hot.…
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A Pilgrimage WITHIN Rome
June 19, 2024 A spiritual pilgrimage would not be complete without a trip to Rome. Most people walk to Rome as their pilgrimage and have been doing so from about the first or second century. The main motivation is to visit the bones of Paul and Peter. As time went on Jubilee Years were established…
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Assisi: Clare, Francis, and the Unexpected
June 17, 2024 Life is full of the unexpected. We know that all too well. Well, getting to Assisi has almost too many unexpected events to count. After flying from Edinburgh to Florence the first train was cancelled so I booked the next one only to find it was cancelled too, along with all other…
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Edin-burrah Part 2: A Little Something for Everyone
June 15, 2024 For Dog Lovers: Oh, you’ve got to hear the story of Greyfriars Bobby. While the facts change slightly as the story is told, the heart of the story remains the same. Bobby was a dog in the 1850’s who belonged to a policeman, John Grey. When his master died of tuberculosis, the…
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Edin-burrah Part 1: St.Giles, Knox, and Edinburgh Castle
June 15, 2024 I couldn’t leave Scotland without first checking out my Presbyterian roots in Edinburgh, the birthplace of Scottish Presbyterianism. Now let’s get one thing straight up front. It’s not pronounced Edinburgh-berg like Pittsburgh. The proper pronunciation is Edin-burrah, said quickly and kind of slurring some of the syllables. Try it. OK, let’s check…
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Iona Reflections: What Will I Remember?
June 14, 2024 As we are preparing to say goodbye to Iona, the question was posed, “What will you remember? What will you take away from your time on Iona?” I reflected on this for awhile. Not having much of a background on the Book of Kells, Columba, or Iona in general, some of the…
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Iona Abbey: Columba, Benedictines, and MacLeod
June 14, 2024 As I described in a previous post, Iona is not an easy place to get to. With all the planes, trains, busses, and ferries, there was no way I could arrive to my Iona week on time. I showed up a day late on Sunday, June 9. Little did I know what…
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Iona: Praying, Plundering, and Pilgrimage
June 13, 2024 The story of Iona, as we know it from a pilgrim perspective, begins with Columba. Of course the island itself, which spans 3 mile by 1 mile, existed long before that. Fun fact: Do you know why there are no fossils on Iona? Because the island, or at least some parts of…
